diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
index 1fed4c8d8520..832eb6ea6efe 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
@@ -679,15 +679,12 @@ timerlat_top_apply_config(struct osnoise_tool *top, struct timerlat_top_params *
 		auto_house_keeping(&params->monitored_cpus);
 	}
 
-	/*
-	* Set workload according to type of thread if the kernel supports it.
-	* On kernels without support, user threads will have already failed
-	* on missing timerlat_fd, and kernel threads do not need it.
-	*/
-	retval = osnoise_set_workload(top->context, params->kernel_workload);
-	if (retval < -1) {
-		err_msg("Failed to set OSNOISE_WORKLOAD option\n");
-		goto out_err;
+	if (params->user_top) {
+		retval = osnoise_set_workload(top->context, 0);
+		if (retval) {
+			err_msg("Failed to set OSNOISE_WORKLOAD option\n");
+			goto out_err;
+		}
 	}
 
 	return 0;